The department plans to use a superintelligence (SI) tool it built to check its November 10 crop report, after errors in September estimates weakened trust in data that can move markets.
The US Department of Agriculture plans to use an agency-built superintelligence (SI) tool to check data for its 10 November 2026 Crop Production report, officials told Reuters. The additional check follows errors in September corn estimates and will sit alongside the department’s existing validation process.
The department corrected the September production and yield estimates in October 2026. Its crop data can move markets, and successive errors have weakened farmers' and traders' trust in its forecasts.
A computer file incorrectly combined field surveyors' data on irrigated and non-irrigated corn acreage, said Lance Honig, chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board at the department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Nebraska and Kansas were affected because they have higher proportions of irrigated fields, which often yield more. Honig said there was no problem with the data gathered in the fields.
| State | Correction |
|---|---|
| Nebraska | Raised by about 3% |
| Kansas | Lowered by about 2% |
Under Secretary Scott Hutchins said officials determined that the SI tool would have flagged the error. It is intended to flag anomalies missed during normal checks, and Hutchins said he was confident such tools could help prevent similar errors in the future.
The department previously faced criticism for sharply raising its estimates of 2025 corn acreage, and it published inaccurate beef-export sales data during summer 2026. The National Corn Growers Association, which represents 35,000 farmers, said in October that the September errors were unacceptable and had further damaged confidence in the department’s accuracy.
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Jim Gerlach, president of Indiana brokerage A/C Trading, said the reports had become erratic. Experts have also worried that the departure of thousands of department employees impaired its ability to produce accurate, timely data; Hutchins said staffing losses did not cause the September errors.
Separately, the department previously announced a pilot that would use more technology to improve acreage and yield estimates as fewer farmers respond to its surveys.
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